Top News:
Sports Illustrated:
VERDUCCI: Beckett comes up aces for Sox — BOSTON — To understand the difficulty of what Red Sox ace Josh Beckett did Wednesday night at Fenway Park, first you have to know that his was the 124th shutout in the 104 years of postseason play. Not bad. Beckett has three of those 124 shutouts himself …
RELATED:
Michael Vega / Boston Globe:
Guerrero hopes to play right field in Game 2 — Vladimir Guerrero, the Angels' All-Star right fielder who was relegated to the role of designated hitter (1-for-4) in Game 1 because of tendinitis in his right triceps, worked out Thursday in right field, shagging fly balls and making throws to the infield.
Steve Buckley / Boston Herald:
The new Mr. October — Beckett again unhittable on big stage … The fallout from the 2003 American League Championship Series was tough on Red Sox [team stats] fans, so much so that most of them sat out the ensuing World Series between the Yankees and Florida Marlins.
Jeff Jacobs / Hartford Courant:
Even Pedro And Tiant Weren't This Dominant — BOSTON - Chone Figgins, who led the American League in hitting after May 31, led off the Division Series with a single Wednesday night. Figgins worked the count full before smacking a line drive up the middle and off the glove of a diving Dustin Pedroia.
Discussion:
Providence Journal, Boston Globe, FanHouse, Boston Sports Media Watch and Peter's Red Sox Forever
Mark Feinsand / Blogging the Bombers:
MIENTKIEWICZ HAS RUN-IN WITH CAMERAMAN — The details aren't completely clear, but Doug Mientkiewicz was apparently run over by a Cleveland cameraman (freelancing for YES) as he got off the team bus at Jacobs Field. — Mientkiewicz was taken to the Yankees clubhouse on a cart …
Discussion:
The LoHud Yankees Blog, Pinstripe Alley, Depressed Fan, Spanning the playoffs and YanksBlog.com
Sports Illustrated:
Elder Matthews rooting for father-son reunion in World Series — PHILADELPHIA (AP) -No one in Philadelphia calls broadcaster Gary Matthews anything but "Sarge.'' In California, he goes by a different name: Dad. — Matthews has a couple of rooting interests in the postseason.
RELATED:
ESPN:
Postseason wish: Please, Cubbies, don't win the Series — The Cubs must go down. It must be gruesome, painful and tragic. They must, like Icarus and his wax wings, come tantalizingly close, and then, like Wile E. Coyote and his ubiquitous anvil, plummet to the canyon floor. — Don't get us wrong.
Gordon Wittenmyer / Chicago Sun Times:
Yanking 'Z' a Lou-sing call — Piniella's decision to remove ace Zambrano backfires — PHOENIX — Looks like the Cubs are going to do the postseason the hard way, too. — Why should this be any different from the last six months — or the last 1,188 months, for that matter?
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Padres' Giles has microfracture surgery on knee — SAN DIEGO — Padres right fielder Brian Giles had microfracture surgery on his right knee, which he hurt in mid-April. — Giles played with the injury until being forced onto the disabled list in late May.
Discussion:
Gaslamp Ball
Mike / Squawking Baseball:
Manny Acta Interview — At just 38 years old, Manny Acta has established himself as one of the best, and brightest, managers in baseball today. After taking over a team that many thought would lose well over 100 games, Acta led the Washington Nationals to 73 victories this season, his first as a big league skipper.
Tom Haudricourt / JSOnline:
Cordero tops wish list — Re-signing closer a priority, GM says — What is shaping up to be a weak free-agent market this winter won't help the Milwaukee Brewers in their quest to retain closer Francisco Cordero and set-up man Scott Linebrink. — With so few top-notch relievers available …
RELATED:
Steven Goldman / New York Sun:
Rodriguez's Postseason Perception Is Flawed — Lately it has been in vogue for sportswriters to "confess" that they don't root for or against the team they're covering. Instead, they root for a good story. If Derek Jeter goes 2-for-4 in a game, it's barely worth mentioning.
Nate Silver / Baseball Prospectus:
2007 Hitter Projection Roundup — Disclaimer: there are as many ways to evaluate projections as there are to create them. This is a SQuiD (Semi Quick-n-Dirty) method that involves looking at some basic descriptive statistics. — I was able to find access to eight projection systems …
Jay Jaffe / Baseball Prospectus:
Yankees versus Indians — A repeat of a matchup which produced some thrilling postseason baseball back in 1997 and 1998, this Divisional Series matches the American League's two hottest teams since the All-Star break, two teams that didn't earn their postseason berths until putting together …
